Christine Lattin
Assistant Professor
CDIB Division
BA: Swarthmore College, 2001
MS in Biology: Eastern Kentucky University, 2008
PhD: Tufts University, 2014
Post Doctorate: Yale University, 2014-2018
Office: 202 Life Sciences Buildiing
Lab:
Phone:
Email: christinelattin@lsu.edu
Twitter: @c_lattin
Area of Interest
The focus of my lab’s research is to understand how different neurotransmitters and hormones help wild animals successfully cope with challenges from predators to disease. The hormone and neurotransmitter pathways we study are very similar in in all vertebrates from fish to birds to mammals, so sparrow and starling research can help us understand how these systems work in humans and other animals. Our current research has three main areas of focus:
- the neurobiology of neophobia
- the effects of climate change on sibling competition
- interactions between the immune system and the stress response.
Selected Publications
Kelly, T. R., M. G. Kimball, K. R. Stansberry and C. R. Lattin. 2020. No, you go first: phenotype and social context affect house sparrow neophobia. Biology Letters 16:20200286.
Lattin, C. R., D. P. Merullo, L. V. Riters, R. E. Carson. 2019. In vivo imaging of D2 receptors and corticosteroids predict behavioural responses to captivity stress in a wild bird. Scientific Reports 9(1):10407.
Lattin, C. R., F. A. Stabile and R. E. Carson. 2017. Estradiol modulates neural response to conspecific and heterospecific song in female house sparrows: an in vivo positron emission tomography (PET) study. PLOS One 12: e0182875.
Lattin, C. R., A. V. Pechenenko and R. E. Carson. 2017. Experimentally reducing corticosterone mitigates rapid captivity effects on behavior, but not body composition, in a wild bird. Hormones and Behavior 89:121-129.
Lattin, C. R., D. E. Keniston, J. M. Reed and L. M. Romero. 2015. Are receptor concentrations correlated across tissues within individuals? A case study examining glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid receptor binding. Endocrinology 156(4):1354-1361.
Lattin, C. R., Ngai, H. M. and L. M. Romero. 2014. Evaluating the stress response of wild birds as a bioindicator of sub-lethal effects of crude oil exposure. PLOS One 9: e102106.
Lattin, C. R. and L. M. Romero. 2014. Chronic stress changes concentrations of corticosterone receptors in a tissue-specific manner in wild house sparrows (Passer domesticus). Journal of Experimental Biology 217:2601-2608.
Lattin, C. R. and L. M. Romero. 2013. The size of a melanin-based plumage ornament correlates with glucocorticoid receptor concentrations in the skin of that ornament. Biology Letters 9: doi:10.1098/rsbl.2013.0440.
Lattin, C. R., K. Waldron-Francis and L. M. Romero. 2013. Intracellular glucocorticoid receptors in spleen, but not skin, vary seasonally in wild house sparrows (Passer domesticus). Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 280:doi:10.1098/rspb.2012.3033.
Lattin, C. R., Waldron-Francis, K., Richardson, J. W., deBruijn, R., Bauer, C. M., Breuner, C. W. and L. M. Romero. 2012. Pharmacological characterization of intracellular glucocorticoid receptors in nine tissues from house sparrow (Passer domesticus). General and Comparative Endocrinology 179:214-220.
Lattin, C. R., Bauer, C. M., de Bruijn, R. and L. M. Romero. 2012. Hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis activity and the subsequent response to chronic stress differ depending upon life history stage. General and Comparative Endocrinology 178:494-501.
Lattin, C. R., J. M. Reed, D. DesRochers and L.M. Romero. 2011. Elevated corticosterone in feathers correlates with corticosterone-induced decreased feather quality: A validation study. Journal of Avian Biology 42:247-252.
Review papers
Lattin, C.R. and T.R. Kelly. 2020. Glucocorticoid negative feedback as a potential mediator of trade-offs between reproduction and survival. General and Comparative Endocrinology doi:10.1016/j.ygcen.2019.113301.
Lattin, C. R., C. W. Breuner and L. M. Romero. 2016. Does corticosterone regulate the onset of breeding in free-living birds?: The CORT-Flexibility Hypothesis and six potential mechanisms for priming corticosteroid function. Hormones and Behavior 78:107-120.